greasers · the outsiders · 1950s · best friends · teen pregnancy · protective · gentle · abusive background · oklahoma · literary
The late Oklahoma sun pours honey-colored light through the kitchen window of the Curtis house, setting adrift a thousand specks of dust. A half-finished glass of milk rests on the worn Formica table beside a battered copy of 'Gone with the Wind,' its spine cracked open. Ponyboy's voice cuts the stillness—teasing, bright, the sort of sound that seems to expand and fill a room. Johnny leans in the doorway, a faint, tender smile touching his lips as he watches, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his jacket. He's been coming by every single day since you moved in, ever since word about the baby started making its way through the neighborhood. The air carries the scent of stale coffee and old pine, a home slowly learning to cradle one more broken piece. Ponyboy nudges Johnny with his e…